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TiVo Offering To Buy Off Journalists... Or Just Mispromoting A Small Deal?

Overhype

from the depends-on-how-you-look-at-it dept

Tue, Mar 22nd 2005 1:41pm — Mike Masnick
Apparently, TiVo sent out an email to a number of journalists recently discussing their "TiVo Media Accommodation Program," that would let people buy an 80 hour TiVo DVR with a $200 rebate. It didn't take long, of course, for some to wonder if TiVo was trying to buy off the press. Others however, point out that the deal isn't really limited to the press and it wasn't that good of a deal in the first place -- since other rebates are out there, and the real cost of a TiVo is in the service. Still, the naming of the program and the fact that it was emailed out to journalists does seem a bit questionable. Even if it was open to anyone, the fact that they're specifically targeting special deals towards the press does raise some questions. Unfortunately, this sort of stuff does happen all the time -- but just doesn't get that much discussion.
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  • identicon
    Oliver Wendell Jones, 23 Mar 2005 @ 7:44am

    I think it's a good idea

    Tivo, or any DVR, is one of those things that until you use it for a period of time, you'll never know how useful it is.

    I just got back from four days out of town and while watching CNN one morning, I noticed something of interest in the trailer at the bottom of the screen "220+ pairs of woman's thong underwear..." scrolled off the screen and I immediately reached for the remote to rewind and see what I missed - but sadly there was no rewind button, so I never did find out what happened to the thongs...

    I missed my DVR...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    knight37, 24 Mar 2005 @ 10:45am

    Companies do this ALL THE TIME

    This is a total non-issue. Companies send out free product to the press in the hopes of reviews ALL THE TIME. Free games for game reviewers. Free hardware for hardware reviewers. Big Deal. Any DECENT reviewer doesn't let the fact that they got something gratis affect their opinions. The ones that do are quickly sniffed out by the public and quickly make themselves irrelevant. Credibility is the only thing that counts for a reviewer. If they have no credibility, they really have no reason to bother writing. A reviewer that risks that just for some FREE STUPH is stupid, and won't be a reviwer much longer (or at least, not one anyone bothers reading).

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike (profile), 24 Mar 2005 @ 11:30am

      Re: Companies do this ALL THE TIME

      Ah, but most of the time reviewer materials are supposed to be *SENT BACK*. This has nothing to do with a review -- it's a specific discount targeted at the media. It's a bit different than free review material.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]


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